UN chief welcomes progress in DRC accord

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the first concrete progress in implementing a historic political agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), calling for peaceful, credible and timely elections in the central African country.

“He (Ban) calls on the government to be formed by Prime Minister (Samy) Badibanga to create a climate conducive to upholding the fundamental rights and freedoms essential to political debate and credible, inclusive elections, as called for in Security Council Resolution 2277 (2016),” said a statement by Ban’s spokesman.

The secretary-general said that he took note of Badibanga’s appointment as prime minister ahead of the formation of a transitional government of national unity in the DRC, in line with the Oct. 18 political agreement.

The power-sharing agreement was signed by the ruling party and some opposition parties endorsing the 2018 presidential election date proposed by the electoral commission and for President Joseph Kabila to remain in office till then.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general also welcomed the mediation efforts led by the Conference Episcopale Nationale du Congo (CENCO) and called on political groups that did not sign the political agreement to remain engaged and work toward the peaceful resolution of their differences, the statement said.

The secretary-general also thanked Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo for his leadership over the last four years and looked forward to working with the government led by Prime Minister Badibanga.

Badibanga’s appointment was announced on Thursday three days after the resignation of former Prime Minister Matata Ponyo to allow the implementation of the national dialogue framework agreement.